Dominating when socialising - dog aggression!!

Hiya all, I know that there may be differing opinions on this topic and I'm open to all responses.  

The lead trainer at our dog club has labelled our Bella as 'Dog Aggressive'  

I'll try and be brief - it'll be hard  

We have been going every Sunday to our dog club for about 2 months (Bella has just gone 5 months old) and gradually she had been exerting her dominance over smaller dogs and puppies more and more. It got to the point two weekends ago where there were at least 4 different dogs that she would growl at - each time I was taking her off the other dog and moving her away but she would find her way back to them and I had to remove her 2 dozen times. This was very upsetting for me by the end - I was quite anxious and close to tears. I felt that we didn't belong there and it has been very disheartening. However, I refuse to stop taking her as I know she will only get worse. We are lucky that the dog club never turn dogs away. The dogs she tries to dominate are always smaller and seemingly chilled out and puppies that are trying to dominate her (even bigger puppies, especially labs). Generally rude dogs. She is still very rude herself.

I should set the scene: it is a large enclosed area where the dogs come for off-lead play prior to classes and when she growls her teeth are showing and she is always dominating on top over the other dog growling at their head and neck area. The growl sounds vicious and feral. Whenever I pull her off the other dogs keep on following and she gets more growly (some owners are smart enough to call their dog back but sometimes I have to tell them to get their dog away so I can calm her down). It always happens to fast that I cannot tell if her tail is wagging or if its aggression or play. I just cannot tell. Either way the other owners don't like it and the trainers are always telling me to pull her away. After the appalling behaviour the other weekend the Lead Trainer came and spent time with her. He mainly told her off but told me that in the future she get's one warning from me and then I have to put her on lead and turned away from the group for 10mins. He said this is the worst thing I could do to her to make her change the behaviour. I agree with this and shall implement. He said she was dog aggressive but also that it could be just play - either way the behaviour needs to stop. Do you guys agree with this judgement? Can a 5 month old be dog aggressive?

Does anyone have any experience with this and did your Stafford ever get over this and socialise better? I write this and realise that there are no other Staffords or Bull breeds that come to off lead time at all and I wonder if there is a good reason for this  Am I going against the grain by trying to get our girl to play nicely? I realise that she is still a puppy but she is old enough to not jump up at other dogs and her dominating behaviour is certainly wrong.

There is an older dog that puts her in her place every now and then and after that she is always really good but if she hasn't has his influence for a couple weeks she starts to growl and misbehave again. Also, the weekend before our 'chat' with the lead trainer Bella went back to where she was born to visit her mum and dad - her mum tried to eat her head  and the owner got a cut hand trying to stop the mum from eating Bella. It was the following weekend at training that Bella's behaviour reached tipping point! My friend (the owner) tried to warn me that Bella's mum was not good in social settings and I was ignorant here - I assumed she would be OK with one of her own  . Also, I was a bit upset to realise that Bella's mum was so dog aggressive - would have been good to know this before we bought Bella - don't they say that bitches get a lot of their behaviour from their mother? I feel this is something that we should have been told. How much can be blamed on genetics alone? I am so surprised that Bella is dog aggressive because she's been socialised heaps as a pup and we've been going to these classes and she is very good with us and other dogs that we meet in the park. I can't say that she has ever done this when she is on the lead, except when we are at doggy school. It must be a staffy thing because she's so chilled at home and get her to doggy school and the switch flicks and she's running around like mad trying to dominate everyone.

There are a few questions here I realise and thankyou for getting this far.

Lisa and Bella

Its more likley to be a case of not being told what is right by the other dogs. Sometimes it is cases like this that need an older well socilized dog who isnt afraid to say Hey no, thats not on! to help out.

You might want to look into other classes with older dogs

Yes if she responds to an older dog putting her in her place that sounds like a good idea or do you have any friend/family with an older dog that you could walk her with?

I'm afraid I don't know about inherited behavior, maybe someone else can comment on that.

Yes the older dog influence is necessary. As I said in the looong post, there is an older dog who has considerable positive influence on her at the Club who is there every week but he doesn't always come over to Bella. The weeks he does she is a Gem! Maybe I will approach the trainer and see if the older dog can be present with Bella for a couple minutes each week. This older dog is AMAZING. He has trained puppies, kittens and all other kinds in his life and generally sorts all the naughty dogs out on Sunday training!

The off-lead time is with all aged dogs.

hi, no ideas on how to do this. My dog as a puppy was always very sociable, it is only now at 15 months that I am having a problem. After being attacked 4 times by the same dog in the matter of a few weeks, she is now very dominating when she meets either puppies or dogs that are smaller than her. Dogs who are bigger or who meet her calmly she is fine with. Hopefully we will both find answers as I need a dog friendly or at the least a dog unreactive dog

Jules xx

Firstly, I don't like the idea of this free-for-all before training! All that will do is get the dogs all hyped up & they'll learn less! Personally I'd skip that bit of the training & keep the socialising for over the park!

Secondly, you have one of three problems...
1. She is dog aggressive. Bearing in mind that her mother is da, it's a possibility
2. She is being a bully. Again, if no dogs are putting her in her place then this is certainly possible.
3. You are not watching her closely enough & stopping any rough play/dominating behaviour before it starts.

If she's da then all you can do is manage it. Teach her 'Watch' and distract her when there are other dogs around.

If she's a bully, then you need to watch her & step in quickly if she forgets her manners.

If you're missing the signs, then you need to watch her a bit more carefully & step in where needed.

Peachy wrote:Hiya all, I know that there may be differing opinions on this topic and I'm open to all responses.  

The lead trainer at our dog club has labelled our Bella as 'Dog Aggressive'  

I'll try and be brief - it'll be hard  

We have been going every Sunday to our dog club for about 2 months (Bella has just gone 5 months old) and gradually she had been exerting her dominance over smaller dogs and puppies more and more. It got to the point two weekends ago where there were at least 4 different dogs that she would growl at - each time I was taking her off the other dog and moving her away but she would find her way back to them and I had to remove her 2 dozen times. This was very upsetting for me by the end - I was quite anxious and close to tears. I felt that we didn't belong there and it has been very disheartening. However, I refuse to stop taking her as I know she will only get worse. We are lucky that the dog club never turn dogs away. The dogs she tries to dominate are always smaller and seemingly chilled out and puppies that are trying to dominate her (even bigger puppies, especially labs). Generally rude dogs. She is still very rude herself.

I should set the scene: it is a large enclosed area where the dogs come for off-lead play prior to classes and when she growls her teeth are showing and she is always dominating on top over the other dog growling at their head and neck area. The growl sounds vicious and feral. Whenever I pull her off the other dogs keep on following and she gets more growly (some owners are smart enough to call their dog back but sometimes I have to tell them to get their dog away so I can calm her down). It always happens to fast that I cannot tell if her tail is wagging or if its aggression or play. I just cannot tell. Either way the other owners don't like it and the trainers are always telling me to pull her away. After the appalling behaviour the other weekend the Lead Trainer came and spent time with her. He mainly told her off but told me that in the future she get's one warning from me and then I have to put her on lead and turned away from the group for 10mins. He said this is the worst thing I could do to her to make her change the behaviour. I agree with this and shall implement. He said she was dog aggressive but also that it could be just play - either way the behaviour needs to stop. Do you guys agree with this judgement? Can a 5 month old be dog aggressive?

Does anyone have any experience with this and did your Stafford ever get over this and socialise better? I write this and realise that there are no other Staffords or Bull breeds that come to off lead time at all and I wonder if there is a good reason for this  Am I going against the grain by trying to get our girl to play nicely? I realise that she is still a puppy but she is old enough to not jump up at other dogs and her dominating behaviour is certainly wrong.

There is an older dog that puts her in her place every now and then and after that she is always really good but if she hasn't has his influence for a couple weeks she starts to growl and misbehave again. Also, the weekend before our 'chat' with the lead trainer Bella went back to where she was born to visit her mum and dad - her mum tried to eat her head  and the owner got a cut hand trying to stop the mum from eating Bella. It was the following weekend at training that Bella's behaviour reached tipping point! My friend (the owner) tried to warn me that Bella's mum was not good in social settings and I was ignorant here - I assumed she would be OK with one of her own  . Also, I was a bit upset to realise that Bella's mum was so dog aggressive - would have been good to know this before we bought Bella - don't they say that bitches get a lot of their behaviour from their mother? I feel this is something that we should have been told. How much can be blamed on genetics alone? I am so surprised that Bella is dog aggressive because she's been socialised heaps as a pup and we've been going to these classes and she is very good with us and other dogs that we meet in the park. I can't say that she has ever done this when she is on the lead, except when we are at doggy school. It must be a staffy thing because she's so chilled at home and get her to doggy school and the switch flicks and she's running around like mad trying to dominate everyone.

There are a few questions here I realise and thankyou for getting this far.

Lisa and Bella

OMG this is exactly what is happening with our 5 month old puppy atm. We took him to puppy class and he gets to socialize at least 3-4 times a week at the off leash dog park. He is very social with other confident dogs, though will only get aggressive to smaller dogs and puppies where he will try to mount them, start growling and trying to bite!

We have tried various technique as in "time out back on the leash" though that doesn't seem to be having much effect. Its gone to the point where I can pick out exactly which dog he will have a go at.

ATM we still have no solution besides keeping him on the leash which isn't curing the problem just more preventing it. I have starting inquiring about some "dog behavioral specialist" though they cost an arm and a leg ($300-500/session!) and its hard to decipher one from another. Some have said that this kind of behavior is "opportunist behavior" where by the dog will pick out a dog he can dominate out of the pack and go for it. I can pretty much label my dog as a "bully" of some sought, if the other dog doesn't play back or put him in his place he will get very aggressive towards them.  

Still no solution at this stage and if this problem doesn't get fixed whilst he still a puppy he could do some major damage as he gets bigger and stronger